The Star Spangled Banner 美國國歌

-
September 20, 1814By Francis Scott Key


hotlinked from Web Gallery of Art




Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars,
through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land
of the free and the home of the brave?



音樂在這裡

*通常不唱
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight,
or the gloom of the grave: And the star-spangled banner in triumph
doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes
and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace,
May the heaven-rescued land.
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled
banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave!

1812 年在美國保衛獨立的戰爭中，詩人Francis Scott Key
在巴爾的摩親眼目睹了英軍對麥克亨利堡的進攻，以
美軍的英勇抵抗。1814年9 月13日凌晨，Francis Scott Key
透過炮火的硝煙，看到一面美國國旗仍然在城堡上迎風
飄揚，他被這景像深深感動，隨手在一封信的背後寫下
了幾行詩。第二天，他把詩稿送給法官尼科爾遜 Nicholson
，得到大力贊賞，並建議用一首當時非常流行的曲子”
To Anacreon in Heaven”做為配曲，同時取歌名為“
星條旗之歌”The Star Spangled Banner，這首歌深受
美國人民的喜愛，很快就傳遍全國。1931年，被正式定
為美利堅合眾國的國歌。

#轉貼自 http://www.go2travel.idv.tw/aboutusa2.htm



坦白說 我看到最後一段美國國歌詞真是覺的毛骨悚然，
In the god we trust 表現出基督教的信仰，一手聖經，
一手持劍，用武力傳教的信念百年來不衰，從十字軍
到布希入侵伊拉克，還有Then conquer we must,
when our cause it is just. 這讓我想起JFK(甘迺迪)
曾經說過, 沒有永恆的朋友、沒有永恆的敵人，只有永
恆的利益。老美還寫在國歌裡要他們記起來勒，我的
天哪，如果哪位仁兄真的相信美國是世界警察，為和
平奮鬥而努力的話，建議把他抓來聽聽看美國國歌歌
詞吧! 去他的人權、民主!